Disseminator for volatile materials



1 40- F. c. SCHNEBLY ETAL 3 DISSEMINATOR FOR VOLATILE MATERIALS Filed April 4, 1939 Patented Nov. 5, 1940 DISSEMINATOR FOR VOLATILE MATERIALS Farrell C. Schnebly, Norwalk, Conn, and Donald L. Hopcratt, Scarsdale, N. Y., asslgnors to Lyndon Products Corporation, Norwalk, Conm, a corporation of Connecticut Application April 4, 1939, Serial No. 266,032

4 Claims.

Thisinvention is a disseminator or vaporizer for volatile materials, such as perfume, disinfectants, medicines and insecticides, for example.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an eilicient and inexpensive vaporizer which can be readily and quickly secured to an incandescent light bulb so that the heat from the light will'vaporize the volatile material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vaporizer or dlsseminator which may be readily and securely positioned in any one of a plurality of positions and planes on an electric light bulb, so that varying degrees of heat, with resultant different rates of volatiliz'ation may thereby be achieved.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of wire clasp for attachment to the light bulb, so that it may be attached to and detached from the bulb without removal of the bulb. This improved clasp also may be used without interference with lamp shades.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a vaporizer or disseminator which may be efilciently used with volatile material in liquid,

solid or powdered form.

More particularly, the disseminator of this invention, in its preferred form, comprises a boxlike receptacle, the bottom or which is concave 80 to approximately the curvature of that of alight bulb, so that when in position on the bulb it will fit snugly against it. The receptacle is provided with an apertured cover for the escape of the volatile material, which cover is preferably hinged to the receptacle. The receptacle is detachably secured to the light bulb by a single piece of wire formed into two loops, which loops engage opposite sides of the light bulb; inasmuch as the loops are made from the same piece of 49 wire, the gripping action of the loops becomes increasingly greater as they are pressed farther and farther apart. The ends of the wire, and approximately the middle portion thereof, are secured by a common securing means to the outside bottom part of the receptacle. The tip ends ofthe wire may, if desired, be bent outwardly in opposite directions to bear against the. bottom of the receptacle in order still further to increase the resilient gripping eiiect of the wire loops on opposite sides of the light bulb.

The main features of the invention having been thus outlined, the invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawing, illustrating the present preferred em- 56 bodiment thereof.

.the wire ends and middle, in place.

In this drawing, 4

Figure 1 is a plan view of our improved disseminator;

Figure 2 is a side view, partly in section;

Figure 3 is a side view, looking toward the 5 right of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view, showing the disseminator in place on an electric light bulb;

Figure 5 is a view looking upwardly at the concave bottom of the disseminator; 10

Figures 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views on a smaller scale showing the disseminator in various positions.

Referring now to this drawing, the disseminator comprises a receptable 2, the bottom of which 15 is concave, as shown at 4, to approximately the curvature of the outside of an electric light bulb 5. The receptacle is provided with a cover 6, which is provided with a plurality of apertures 8 for the escape of vapor, the cover preferably 31) being hinged by the hinge H) to the receptacle and being held in closed position by any suitable typeof snap fastening such, for example, as a small projection on the receptacle which snaps into a small recess i2 on the cover. 25

For securing the receptacle in place on an electric light bulb, a single continuous piece of wire is formed into a pair of complementary loops (4 and M. This is accomplished by securing the ends l5 and I5 of the wire and the approximate 30 middle portion I6 of the wire, to the bottom of the receptacle 2 by means of a generally U-shaped sheet metal clamp l8 which engages the ends l5 and I5 and the middle portion [6 of the wire. The extreme ends l5a, |5a of the Wire are out- 35 wardly bent, as shown in Fig. 5; it will be evident that as the loops I4, M are spread apart, this will tend to twist the ends of the wire, which twisting movement will be opposed by the bent ends 15a, l5a-of the wire bearing against the 0 bottom of the receptacle; the resilient grip of the wire loops is thereby increased. Furthermore,

the outwardly bent portions prevent the ends of the wire from slipping out of the clamp IS.

The wire could, if desired, be provided with small, 5 outwardly extending U-shaped loops, just before the ends of the wire enter the clamp l8, in place of or in addition to the portions l5, l5a. Clamp I8 is secured to the concave bottom 4 of the receptacle by means of small flanges l8 which 50 pass through suitable slots in the bottom of the receptacle, into the interior of" the receptacle and are there bent over flush with the bottom, thereby securely anchoring said member l8 and The re silient gripping eflect oi'the loops is increased as they are pressed farther and farther apart, due to the use of a single piece of wire, and to the outwardlybent portions Na, lBa.

o The disseminator as described may be readily snapped in place on an incandescent light bulb 5 simply by pushing it over the bulb and may be held in a plurality oi positions thereon, as indicated in Figures 4, 6 and 7. Since the filament lo of the bulb is usually not equidistant from the glass bulb itself, the positioning of the receptacle in various positions on the bulb will cause difierent amounts of heat to be applied to the receptacle with resultant dififerent rates of vaporization.

it Any suitable type of volatile material may be put in the receptacle 2. Perfume in the form of small pellets or cubes may be used, the holes 8, of course, being small enough to prevent loss of the pellets therethrough. Since the bottom i'oi no the receptacle preferably is not perforate, a liquid volatile material such as perfume or a disinfectant may be volatilized. In this case, the receptacle would. of course, be positioned as in Figure 4. so The bottom of the receptacle, while not perforate, could be perforated, if desired; the rate of volatilization would be increased if such perfo-v rations were provided, because entraining warm air would enter the bottom perforations, pick up so the vapor and pass out of the holes 8 in the cover.

' While we have illustrated the preferred embodiment of our invention in some detail, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to these details, but may be carried as out in other ways.

We claim as our invention: 1. A disseminator for volatile materials, comprising in combination a receptacle for containing the volatile material, the bottom of the redo ceptacle being curved to approximately the outside curvature of an incandescent light bulb,

an apertured cover for said compartment, and a single piece of wire, formed into two loops, the ends or the wire, and the middle thereof, being secured to the outside of said receptacle, said loops engaging opposite sides of the light bulb for 5 resiliently and detachably securing the receptacle in a plurality of positions on the light bulb.

2. A disseminator for volatile materials, comprising a receptacle, the bottom of which is curved to ill: the outside of, an electric light bulb, to a pair of wire loops for resilient engagement with opposite sides of the light bulb, said wire loops being formed from a single piece of wire, and a common means, engageable with the ends or said wire and with approximately the middle portion to thereof, for securing the ends and middle of said wire to the outside bottom part of said receptacle.

3. A disseminator for volatile materials, comprising a receptacle, a pair of wire loops for resilient engagement with opposite sides of an electric light bulb, said wire loops being formed from a continuous single piece of wire, and a common means, engageable with the ends of the wire and with approximately the middle portions thereof, for securing the ends and middle 01 said wire 26 to the outside bottom 'part of said receptacle.

4. A disseminator for volatile materials, comprising a receptacle, a pair of wire loops for re- 

